Yeon Wi’s expression did not change at all after hearing Je Gal Munho’s explanation.

He did not seem surprised in the slightest. At least, not on the surface.

Je Gal Munho spoke carefully.

“I did consider it thoroughly, but the situation is too dangerous at the moment. Originally, I wanted to decide after speaking with you once more......”

“It is fine. You need not be that concerned about me. No one knows when or what will happen regarding this matter, do they?”

“Ha ha.”

“I already spoke to Hojeong separately. I told him it would be best to proceed as stably as possible, but if the matter became urgent, we should trust each other’s decisions. Without that much trust, it will be difficult to fight them.”

“You are right. I was also worried we might be making the mistake of beating the grass and startling the snake. Even if we join hands for now, I said we would not trust Mo Yonggun completely and would investigate him in detail. In any case, there is a high chance he made some sort of deal with Yangcheon, so he may also have a line set up with the Perverse Lust Cult.”

“I understand. However......”

“Yes?”

Yeon Wi’s eyes deepened.

He knew of his son’s previous life.

Is there truly any need for such confirmation? I heard he fought that man Mo Yonggun with his life on the line.

Of course, the circumstances then and the circumstances now were far too different. According to his son, Ink Dragon Manor had not even existed at that time.

Yeon Wi hardened his expression and said, “Even if we form a temporary alliance with Mo Yonggun, I am worried about how far he can be trusted.”

“That problem troubles me as well.”

Je Gal Munho’s eyes gleamed.

“But if he decides to stand with us, the situation # Nоvеlight # will at least become different from the matter with Ink Dragon Manor.”

“Because we will have to tell him that the Perverse Lust Cult is secretly aiming at Ink Dragon Manor too?”

“That is correct. Of course, that is assuming Mo Yonggun has nothing to do with the Three Creeds. We will still have to watch him for now.”

Yeon Wi shook his head.

“I have not said this until now, but at least regarding that part, I was at ease.”

“Why is that?”

“I do not know how you see him, Strategist, but Hojeong sees him as a blade coated in poison. A rare masterwork of a sword, yes, but a poisoned sword that could endanger even the one who holds it.”

“That is an accurate comparison.”

“I am different. The Mo Yonggun I saw is not a sword. He is simply a tiger whose greed is greater than anyone else’s. A tiger only wants to become master of the mountain. It does not sit together with some other beast fit to play king.”

Je Gal Munho’s eyes shone.

Yeon Wi continued calmly.

“The fact that he joined hands with Yangcheon was nothing more than an extreme exception. His own life was in danger at the time, so he had no choice. Furthermore, Mo Yonggun has no intention of dividing the world in two with Yangcheon. From the beginning, he only wants to step over even Yangcheon and become the greatest power holder under heaven.”

“That is true.”

“And the Three Fanatic Creeds are involved in that? Impossible. In truth, as I see it, even that man’s pride is only selfish and unruly. However, there is one thing I was certain of in my own way. I do not know whether he knows of the Three Creeds, but he would not have joined hands with them.”

After thinking for a moment, Je Gal Munho nodded.

“I see. Put that way, I understand why you can be certain, Clan Lord.”

Once a person begins to suspect someone, that person starts obsessing over the process rather than looking at the result created by the suspect’s actions.

In that sense, it was indeed right to assume Mo Yonggun had no point of contact with the Three Creeds. If he had joined hands with the Three Creeds, there would have been no need for him to engage in such greed-filled political struggle.

“It was the same with Ink Dragon Manor. He was thoroughly keeping Yangcheon in check. The reason being that Yangcheon was a formidable enemy he would someday have to clash with.”

“That is right. Of course, there is always the unlikely possibility, so let us watch for now.”

“Let us. People always change, after all.”

Yeon Wi sighed.

“If he becomes an ally...... we will probably clash often. That man does not know what a line is.”

“Perhaps, on the contrary, we may get along.”

“Mm?”

Je Gal Munho smiled bitterly.

“I have begun crossing lines as well.”

*****

Mo Yonggun’s eyes shook.

The unexpected, destructive attack had rattled his insides. It was fortunate he had somehow blocked and diverted it properly. One wrong move, and he might have coughed up blood.

But that was not what mattered right now.

“......What kind of nonsense is that?”

Yeon Hojeong did not answer. He simply glared at Mo Yonggun with eyes flashing with murderous intent.

A look of shock appeared on Mo Yonggun’s face.

“The Three Creeds? They helped establish Ink Dragon Manor?”

“Furthermore, they are currently operating in secret within the imperial palace and the authorities as well.”

“......!”

Mo Yonggun, who had been glaring back at Yeon Hojeong with a face full of shock, soon twisted his lips into a sneer.

“Do not spout nonsense. So now you try to toy with me using some ridiculous lie.”

His voice trembled faintly. Though he said that, he too knew Yeon Hojeong was sincere.

As he himself had said, the axe Yeon Hojeong had swung was filled with nothing but sincerity.

One came to know the other through martial arts. In that brief clash with Yeon Hojeong, Mo Yonggun had felt no disguise and no falsehood.

“I will ask again.”

WHOOOOOOOSH!

A fierce white storm wrapped around Mad Dragon.

“Did you know of any one of the Three Fanatic Creeds—the Perverse Lust Cult, the Divine Flame Cult, or the Mad Blood Cult?”

“I told you to stop spouting nonsense.”

His voice became far calmer. Instinctively, he had steadied his own mind.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes turned dark as an abyss.

You killed me. Even though Divine Flame and Mad Blood existed openly besides Perverse Lust. No matter how afraid you were of my power, I cannot understand why you buried me, someone who would have protected your people too.

That was the problem.

People can change at any time.

Mo Yonggun was a man who had built a family and a house. But change did not discriminate between men and women, old and young, rich and poor, strong and weak.

What if Yangcheon had told him about the Perverse Lust Cult? What if Mo Yonggun had known?

Of course, if Mo Yonggun was the man Yeon Hojeong knew, he would have stopped the political struggle and proposed that they attack those bastards first.

But Mo Yonggun had not done that. Therefore, the Mo Yonggun Yeon Hojeong knew did not know of the Three Creeds’ existence.

But I could be wrong.

He had to approach this carefully. For the sake of this caution now, he had charged boldly right up to the moment before it.

Yeon Hojeong opened his mouth again.

“I will ask one last time.”

Chiiiiik!

The cold wind boiled fiercely before Yeon Hojeong’s Killing Intent.

“Mo Yonggun. Did you join hands with the Three Creeds?”

At last, Mo Yonggun’s fury erupted.

“I told you not to spout nonsense!”

JJEOOOOOEONG!

At Mo Yonggun’s explosive strike, Yeon Hojeong retreated madly.

It was a single sword strike that revealed openings in his movement and carried only raw power. It would have been far too easy to counterattack, but Yeon Hojeong received the blow head-on.

BZZZZZT!

Blue lightning blazed over Mad Dragon and vanished. Mo Yonggun’s Thunderclap Qi had failed to pierce Yeon Hojeong’s shield of internal force.

Fssssss.

White smoke rose from Mad Dragon.

Killing Intent streamed from Mo Yonggun’s eyes. Its density did not lose to Yeon Hojeong’s Killing Intent at all.

“Your arrogance has exceeded all bounds. I will not kill you today, but I will correct that insolent attitude of yours harshly.”

Yeon Hojeong had no time to answer. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

BOOOOOM!

Mo Yonggun shot forward like a ray of light. It was tremendous speed, not inferior to Yeon Hojeong’s Blood-Wing Sweeping Heaven.

Mo Yonggun’s true skill, with Thunderclap Qi wrapped around his whole body, burst out. Blue lightning blazed over the treasured sword he swung along with his explosive advance.

Yeon Hojeong unfolded Tiger King’s Nine-Wall Breaker.

KURURURUNG!

With a thunderous explosion, the bark of several distant trees was scraped away in chunks.

BZZZZZT! WHOOOOOOOSH!

A terrifying gale and eerie lightning qi clawed through the surroundings.

Mo Yonggun’s power, unleashed without sparing any of his own strength, was truly beyond the norm. Even Yeon Hojeong, who did not lose to anyone in strength, was swept away for an instant. In terms of a forceful sword, Mo Yonggun seemed even stronger than his father.

Mo Yonggun swung his sword again.

JJEOOOOOEONG! JJEOOOOOEONG!

A sword was double-edged, and because the blade was thin, it was more specialized for thrusting than cutting.

But Mo Yonggun’s sword was different. He brought it down with outrageous force, as if Yeon Hojeong were swinging an axe, and each strike carried the weight of ten thousand geun.

KWAAAAANG!

Yeon Hojeong’s feet dug into the ground.

His martial force had grown another level after forming the Yeon Clan Divine Core. Even so, he was being pushed back in strength. Mo Yonggun’s realm was certainly higher, but this was the first time he had been forced back in raw power even in a decisive battle against such a master.

And yet.

“......”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes were clear and cold.

Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth because of internal injury, but his expression and gaze did not waver at all. He was simply knocking away Mo Yonggun’s martial arts one by one with quiet eyes.

Why are you so angry?

There was no need to meet force with force.

Mo Yonggun’s strength was certainly extraordinary, but his attacks were being unleashed while he was almost out of his right mind, so there were many openings. If Yeon Hojeong counterattacked properly, it would not be difficult to land a fatal blow.

But Yeon Hojeong did not counterattack. Nor did he aim for the openings.

He simply received Mo Yonggun’s powerful sword with stubborn persistence.

Are you angry to hide that you are connected to the Three Creeds? Or are you angry because there are more bastards like the Medical God Association? If not that, are you furious because you were made a fool alone? And if not even that, are you ashamed of yourself for knowing and still ignoring them until now?!

One saw the vessel through martial arts.

To see the vessel, one had to read sincerity. To read sincerity, qi had to clash with qi.

They were learning. Each other’s sincerity.

In Yeon Hojeong’s eyes, Mo Yonggun’s sincerity was gradually coming into view.

JJEOOOEONG! JJEOJEOJEOJEONG!

Speed was added to power.

Just as Yeon Hojeong was reading Mo Yonggun’s sincerity, Mo Yonggun also began to feel Yeon Hojeong’s sincerity.

That he was not lying. That he truly suspected him.

And further, how deep-rooted his hatred was toward the unknown organizations called the Three Fanatic Creeds.

In Mo Yonggun’s eyes, a different scene slowly began to appear.

HWARURURUK!

The earth was dry, and the sky had been dyed a vivid red by surging flames.

Countless corpses lay scattered in every direction. And among them, a young man was screaming while shedding bloody tears.

It was Yeon Hojeong. Yeon Hojeong was howling as he held his bleeding father and younger brother.

In that instant, Mo Yonggun felt a chill run down his spine.

This man.

It seemed like a hallucination, and yet not like one.

He could feel Yeon Hojeong’s heart. He could feel the heart that worried for the future, the tension and sorrow of a man worried that the world would become hell even after sufficient preparations.

He felt, exactly as it was, the sincerity of a martial artist worried that his family might die.

You are going that far?

Even when looking into another’s sincerity through martial arts, if the opponent controlled his own qi, it was not easy to read.

Are you showing that sincerity to me for the first time?

A steel fortress gate opened.

Qi was the heart, and the heart was the soul’s core that allowed a person to move as a person.

And now, Yeon Hojeong was showing it without hesitation. Through qi, he wanted Mo Yonggun to understand.

How much he hated the Three Creeds, and how dangerous they were.

In that instant, Mo Yonggun’s eyes poured out blue lightning.

JJEOOOOOEONG!

This sword strike was more perfect than any before it.

Power, speed, martial principles, timing—everything was contained within it.

“Cough!”

Yeon Hojeong, forced back more than ten steps, coughed up a handful of blood.

It was a sword strike whose power and penetrating force had reached a tremendous level. Dodging would have been the best choice, but he had stubbornly received even that final strike.

Yeon Hojeong wiped the corner of his mouth and stared ahead.

At some point, Mo Yonggun had lowered his sword to a downward guard and was looking at Yeon Hojeong with an expressionless face.

“......”

Silence flowed between them again.

And the one who broke that silence was once more Mo Yonggun.

“Do you trust me?”

“Ptoo!”

Yeon Hojeong spat out bloody saliva and answered in a cold voice.

“I don’t trust you. However, I trust your ability.”

It was the same question and answer as when they had once worked on an operation together before infiltrating Ink Dragon Manor.

Mo Yonggun stared at Yeon Hojeong, then sheathed his sword.

SHING. TAAK!

The sound of the blade entering the scabbard was smooth as a line of song. His heart had completely settled.

Mo Yonggun turned around.

“I will go to Warbreaker Pavilion at noon tomorrow. Gather those who know of this matter.”

“Do not try anything foolish in the meantime. I am going straight to Hu Gae and asking him to place all Mo Yong Clan quarters under control.”

Mo Yonggun stopped walking.

He turned his head and glared at Yeon Hojeong.

“You had better gather every piece of information about these Three Creeds or whatever they are called. If even the slightest falsehood is mixed into what you said today, Warbreaker Pavilion will become a sea of blood tomorrow.”

“I look forward to it.”

Mo Yonggun turned again and left the forest.

THUMP.

Yeon Hojeong set Mad Dragon down and sighed.

“Try living a little more easily, damn it.”

The emotion he had revealed was sincere. But he had not learned everything about Mo Yonggun. Mo Yonggun was that kind of man.

Now only one thing remained.

“If you try some petty trick like you did when I died, then even with Brother’s request, I’ll tear out the Mo Yong Clan by the roots.”